All posts tagged Warner Bros

Ok, so I was definitely waayyy behind on seeing The Avengers. I attempted to see it opening weekend, but both shows I could go to sold out by the time I got there. So I didn’t get to see it until two days ago, likely the last week it’s going to be in theaters around here.

So… This is supposed to be a review, right? But as I’m sure you already know if you spent the money to see it, the movie was TREMENDOUS. Of course, the following is largely personal opinion and is not trying offend anyone. Or at least not too many people.

Not only did it have some of the most attractive men in Hollywood as leading characters, The Avengers had dialogue that was appropriately witty for a comic book movie, but resisted the campy feel of ones from the past few years (Green Lantern anyone? I mean, Ryan Reynolds is beautiful, but come on). The action was over-the-top, as should be expected from a superhero movie, and the interactions between the characters were appropriately tense, goofy, and all-around interesting to watch. I went into the theater dreading watching Scarlett Johannson on-screen, but Black Widow definitely grew on me (not Scarlett Johannson, just the character). Hawkeye could have been ridiculous and totally lame, but he wasn’t, which is definitely appreciated. The movie may have lasted a bit long, but I wasn’t complaining much.

Notice that above I used an example of a DC Comics movie to compare to The Avengers, a Marvel series. Maybe this is heretical in the realm of comics – I don’t know as I’m not as into comics as I am other forms of written art. But I’d just like to say that Marvel must have hired a huge number of exceptionally creative and innovative people to help churn out the movies they’ve produced in the last few years. Take 2011 alone, in which Thor, X-Men: First Class, and Captain America, all came out. All solid, even outstanding movies, in their own right. Again, Thor was a bit campy, but I’ll forgive it just for the casting of Chris Hemsworth in all his blond-haired, blue-eyed glory AND Tom Hiddleston, who I just wanted to cuddle and to say “there-there” to. Before that they had Iron Man, which perhaps could have failed if not for the acting ability of Robert Downey Jr., but it didn’t, so that’s neither here nor there. That’s not to say that Marvel hasn’t had its flops, or at least some not-so-stellar releases lately. Indeed, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and Fantastic Four, are some examples. Nevertheless, I forsee Marvel Studios bringing us some really outstanding movies in the new few years, as long as they don’t over-milk the Avengers, turning the already planned sequels into meaningless drivel.

Which brings me Warner Bros. Pictures, the primary production studio for DC Comics movies. In my opinion, they are really lagging behind in terms of breadth and depth into the DC world. Primary characters? Batman and Superman. Of course, these characters are likely to appeal to as many DC fans as possible, as they overlap so much in the DC Universe. In the 2000s Warner Bros. gave us a shitty Catwoman movie, Christopher Nolan‘s Batman films, a relatively well-received Superman, Jonah Hex, Green Lantern (which I’ve already addressed) and Watchmen (which, 1) missed the point of the graphic novel and 2) was subsequently awful, and I’m not really counting it).

Now, first and foremost, I’m a DC girl. My mother and grandmother were Wonder Woman fans and I have an old-school Catwoman beach towel somewhere in storage. But now I’m really a Batman girl. Why? Christopher Nolan. The man is on a completely different planet when it comes to vision. Yes he may reuse themes, tropes, and most notably, actors, but he is (in my opinion) one of the best directors on the scene right now. Nolan’s Batman films made me go out and buy both “Hush” and “The Long Halloween,” the latter of which provided much inspiration for Batman Begins. I have to give some credit to Arkham Asylum for also fostering a great deal of my Batman love. Also, fuck Tim Burton.

So now I have to ask, if I’m a DC girl, why am I so attracted to these new Marvel movies? Long story short, I feel the Marvel Studios has a larger number of talented people pulling together to make great things, whereas Warner Bros. is really not picking up the slack when it comes to things OTHER than Batman.

I think I forgot that this post was supposed to be about the Avengers movie… So I’ll end by simply saying: I’ve GOT to try some shawarma.